Let's take a break from the health saga and go back to Paradise ... er ... Kerala!
After checking out St. Francis Church, we drove past Cochin's ancient spice warehouses on our way to Jew Town, which was settled by Jews fleeing the destruction of their temple about 2,000 years ago. The area has been a center of the Indian spice trade for about 3,000 years.
Many of the old spice warehouses have been updated with bright colors ...
... and so have the shops and homes in Jew Town.
There are still lots of spice warehouses and shops in the area, but the numbers of tourists have also attracted a lot of souvenir shops, art and textile showrooms, and antique shops. Our driver told us to look but not buy, because prices are inflated.
We stopped by the Paradesi Synagogue, one of the world's oldest still in use, but it was closed for Passover Week and we weren't able to see inside.
I enjoyed the color and fancy iron work in the area ...
We passed dozens of spice shops and warehouses, some clearly set up for tourists to browse and some obviously functioning in much the same way as they have been through the centuries.
Though there are still lots of symbols around, many of the Jews of Cochin moved to Israel in the 1950s and 60s, so the community in Cochin isn't very large.
We wandered around until we came across the old Jewish cemetery ...
By this time the kids were pretty hot and tired and ready for a break, which they took on an obliging bit of sidewalk. I have three little explorers, and I had a terrible time keeping them from digging around in the dirt for treasure (not just in Kerala, but everywhere we traveled in India). The women there wear armloads of tinkling glass bangles, and Johnny and Evie would collect pieces of colorful broken bangles everywhere we went.
Some more images from the walk back to our car ...
While in Jew Town, we also visited the Mattancherry Palace (and here and here), which is now a museum dedicated to the rajas who lived there in the Portuguese and Dutch eras. No photos allowed. The paintings, photos and artifacts of the rajas were interesting, but the best part of the visit was viewing the incredible murals throughout the building. Most of the paintings depict scenes from the Ramayana, and Johnny and Evie had a blast pointing out the stories they knew. I love that my kids love art and history!
A Google image search for "mattancherry palace murals" will give you a good sampling of the murals. Be careful. Some of them might make you blush.
After checking out St. Francis Church, we drove past Cochin's ancient spice warehouses on our way to Jew Town, which was settled by Jews fleeing the destruction of their temple about 2,000 years ago. The area has been a center of the Indian spice trade for about 3,000 years.
Many of the old spice warehouses have been updated with bright colors ...
... and so have the shops and homes in Jew Town.
There are still lots of spice warehouses and shops in the area, but the numbers of tourists have also attracted a lot of souvenir shops, art and textile showrooms, and antique shops. Our driver told us to look but not buy, because prices are inflated.
We stopped by the Paradesi Synagogue, one of the world's oldest still in use, but it was closed for Passover Week and we weren't able to see inside.
I enjoyed the color and fancy iron work in the area ...
We passed dozens of spice shops and warehouses, some clearly set up for tourists to browse and some obviously functioning in much the same way as they have been through the centuries.
Though there are still lots of symbols around, many of the Jews of Cochin moved to Israel in the 1950s and 60s, so the community in Cochin isn't very large.
We wandered around until we came across the old Jewish cemetery ...
By this time the kids were pretty hot and tired and ready for a break, which they took on an obliging bit of sidewalk. I have three little explorers, and I had a terrible time keeping them from digging around in the dirt for treasure (not just in Kerala, but everywhere we traveled in India). The women there wear armloads of tinkling glass bangles, and Johnny and Evie would collect pieces of colorful broken bangles everywhere we went.
Some more images from the walk back to our car ...
While in Jew Town, we also visited the Mattancherry Palace (and here and here), which is now a museum dedicated to the rajas who lived there in the Portuguese and Dutch eras. No photos allowed. The paintings, photos and artifacts of the rajas were interesting, but the best part of the visit was viewing the incredible murals throughout the building. Most of the paintings depict scenes from the Ramayana, and Johnny and Evie had a blast pointing out the stories they knew. I love that my kids love art and history!
A Google image search for "mattancherry palace murals" will give you a good sampling of the murals. Be careful. Some of them might make you blush.
No comments:
Post a Comment